Vladimir Putin is from St. Petersburg. Most of Putin’s best freinds — the so-called “siloviki” — are from St. Petersburg. And so it makes sense, right?, that he loves the city so much that he would want to expand its borders by pulling a whopping 377 hectares of land out of the Gulf of Finland. Cities grow — it’s just the way of life — and it’s just more city to love.

And, of course, more money to be made. Well, it turns out — shocker — that the new city borders will conveniently include a massive “building and investment project” valued at over $1 billion. And, let’s face it, those investors can charge a lot more for those new apartments if the zoning’s right.